How this tool changes learning in a way that isn't possible without technology
Students will create Twitter accounts as a form of micro blogging during class. They will use Twitter as a way to collect pictures and videos and express thoughts on the project during that time. They will also be able to connect with their classmates to see what other groups are doing and share and collaborate on ideas for each other . They will have their own devices available to them during class time and will only be allowed to Tweet during dedicated project work time or outside of class.
Twitter meets students where they are at with collaboration. They can share ideas and comment on others using a platform that can be used during project work time and even outside of class.
Students will use the Padlet wall to ask questions and keep in contact with the teacher during the entirety of the unit. Students will be able to see other's questions just in case they might answer their own, have a place to look back at the answers just incase they forget, and allow the teacher to know who needs immediate attention.
This bring everyone on the same level, the quiet students and the loud ones can ask questions without fear of being drowned out. It also allows for the students to be connected to the teacher even outside of class.
Created as an area to reflect and link their work together in one place. Groups will have dedicated time at the end of each class to reflect on their work so far, and to link all of the parts and pieces of the project together into one area. They will also define the key vocabulary in their first few posts and the blog will be their overall final product that will submitted for grading.
Writing during arts classes has been a push by administrators for a while. Students will be able to cover that skill but also using the blog platform can create an open archive for learning and start students down the road of a positive digital footprint.
As part of their instrument design phase, students will be asked to sketch out their instrument before building, they must take into account the type of instrument they are creating and how the original compares to the one they are creating. This sketch will include labels of all the parts and materials and the completed circuit of the Makey Makey. They will need to list their materials needed and double check their sketches with the teacher before building.
(Please scroll up/down, left/right to see whole sketch)
This will make it easier for students to share their designs and collaborate on them together. It will be in a digital format able to be uploaded to their Twitter or blog to share with their classmates and others. Drawing on the computer allows for more layers to be added to the sketch that pencil and paper cannot add.
In collaboration with the science teacher who will be teaching about electricity and circuits, each student will create a binder with websites that reflect what they are learning and help as a way to recall information on circuits, conductors, and insulators as they are working on their instrument design and integrating their Makey Makey into the picture. They will collect important information during science as they move through the Electricity unit and then use that as reference in the building stage of their project in music.
It is a new way to collect, share, and curate new resources about electricity in one places. It is an easy way to teach organization and access the resources from anywhere. That way students cannot "forget" what they need to finish the project.
Vocaroo will be the audio recording tool used to collect sounds that will be used in the Scratch program. Students will be able to record using any device and download as an MP3 to use in audio editing software. This will stress the importance of real instruments and sounds and relate it to the material being learned in the unit.
Cloud based recording tool that gives anyone, anywhere, with any equipment, access to record the world around them. The tool is open to anyone and it is easy to download to multiple file formats. This takes away the bulky recording technology and lets more than one group work on their project.
As a way to incorporate more science and technology into the project and to teach about the new family of instruments, electronic. Students will learn how to code their own programs that will be connected to the Makey Makeys incorporated into their instruments. The program must be able to be played with a Makey Makey (Must only use the controls available on the circuit board), and use sounds that they record in Vocaroo to be used in the program as the instrument sound.
(Click to activate and then press left and right arrows to hear sounds)
Scratch makes coding available for all. The same skills are being practiced as if they were coding in HTML but using Scratch makes it more accessible to younger students and allows them to build a program that only technology can help them do.
Record and upload audio >>
Audio recording software >>
(Click to activate and then press left and right arrows to hear sounds)
Unit Plan: Science of Sound Unit